NAGPUR: At the first look, it looks like the ubiquitous air cooler. But a closer look at the back of this machine tells the tale a silent revolution that took place some decades ago.
The Maras family, which stays at Bezonbagh in North Nagpur, has been manufacturing this uniquely designed air cooler — which has eliminated the need for a water pump — for the last 36 years. In fact, the maker of this cool creation, the late Amar Singh Maras, got the design patented in 1968.
Here's how it works: Attached to the fan of the cooler is a revolving drum, on which the khus, treated with rubber for durability, is mounted. The water is stored in a tank beneath the drum. As the drum revolves, the khus on it is wetted by the water stored underneath. As the warm air rushes in the cooler from behind, it evaporates the water on the khus and cool air comes out of the fan.
Rajinder Singh Maras, son of the ‘cool creator', says: "My father owned a shop selling electrical parts and repairing gadgets. You know how it is — he saw the same things night and day and constantly thought of ways to improve them. That's how this cooler came about." Amar Singh noticed that the pumps in regular air coolers often developed snags, being partly immersed in water for the entire duration of the summer during which the coolers were installed at home. The whole problem, then, was that the khus was static and the water had to be ‘moved.'
Industrious and inventive as he was, Singh decided to turn the cooler's mechanism on its head and devise a system that would obviate the need of circulating the water and hence, the troublesome pump. After tinkering in the workshop, Singh finally perfected the design. He attached a reduction gear box to the motor shaft of the fan, behind which the drum is located. This meant that, while the fan rotated at about 1400 revolutions per minute (rpm), the khus-mounted drum rotated at 1 rpm.
The advantages of this cooler are many. Since only a small part of the cooler's body came in direct contact with water, it lasts longer than that of the average cooler. Since the khus is also rubberised, it too lasts for three to four years, as opposed to just a couple of years in the case of the regular cooler.
"My father patented this design in 1968. But it has probably expired now," says Manmohan Singh, Rajinder Singh's brother, who now looks after the business, Quality Coolers. Adds Rajinder: "When we started making the cooler commercially, there was a huge demand for it. In fact, a 15-day waiting period wasn't uncommon. And even now, many engineering students come to us to study the design." He says that people now prefer regular coolers as they are cheaper.
"We still make these coolers, but only made-to-order," he says. These coolers are installed everywhere in the Maras house. To this simple family, they are as much a source of cool comfort as silent reminders of their forefather's ingenuity.
Source:The Times Of India
